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Before I added the computer to my studio tools, I was making traditional prints and paintings. I especially liked building collagraph plates (see Figure 1) from paper cutouts and collage materials. I sealed the plates and then inked them with oil paint and etching ink wiping compound. Then I ran them through an etching press to transfer the ink to damp Rives BFK printmaking paper. Etching presses are expensive, so I began by working in a local Open Press location where artists could go to make prints.

Today, the CO2 laser I use to cut my shapes is available to artists in laser Open Studios or other service bureaus. Most trophy shops have lasers, so it's not hard to find a place that will cut vector files. For this project I used my own laser, but other artists can work at laser Open Studios available through Duganne Ateliers in Santa Monica, California.

Figure 1A cardboard collage plate is inked, placed on damp paper, and pulled through an etching press to create the impression.

Materials and Tools for This Project

For this tutorial, I used a Mac computer and Adobe Shape CC 2015. To follow along, you'll also need to collect some tools and materials, which are generally not expensive (see Figure 2). There are a few special supplies, however, such as the DASS WonderSauce Clear and White that I use to transfer the inkjet print to printmaking paper.

Figure 2Most of the tools and supplies for this project are inexpensive and easy to find.

Materials

Birch panel, ¼-inch thick

Medex panel, ¼-inch thick (or a second birch panel)

Image printed on DASS Premium transfer film

Arches Platine, Berrger COT320, or Rives BFK printmaking paper

Block printing inks

DASS WonderSauce Clear

DASS WonderSauce White

Wood glue

Blue painter's tape

Shellac clear

Everclear or denatured alcohol

Small paper cup

Plastic cup

Paper towels

Tools

Scissors

Soft rubber brayer

Baren for rubbing the inked paper

One-minute hourglass or digital timer

Sponge brush or foam strip and binder clip

400-grit sandpaper

Protective gloves

Hard, smooth work surface

New 12-inch paint roller

Step 1: Make the Block for Printing the Shape

After receiving "Creative Jake" Weien's invitation to collaborate with him on this project, I joined his shared Adobe Creative Cloud folder and selected the image I would use for the woodblock print. (Part 1 of this series details how Jake used the free Adobe Shape mobile app to create the vector graphic.)

My training and education is in traditional printmaking and painting, and I thought the images Jake created with the Adobe Shape app on his iPad were perfect for creating woodblocks. The bold, simple designs are fast and fun to process, and they're easy to cut with my Universal Laser Systems cutter. In this half of the tutorial, I'll make the woodblock on the laser, but you could cut an equivalent by hand from adhesive craft foam like that shown in Figure 3, using an X-Acto knife.

Items in the shared library can be accessed from Photoshop CC or directly in Illustrator CC. I started in Photoshop because I wanted to clean up a few edges in the flower image Jake created.

Let's get started.

Connect to the Adobe Creative Cloud to access the shared image library where your graphic is stored (Window > Libraries), as shown in Figure 4. Open a new window in Photoshop, with a canvas size of 12 × 12.

Using the lasso tool, I selected a few stray black shapes that I know will be too small for the cutting (see Figure 6). I filled those with white and then saved the file as a TIFF.

Figure 6Use the lasso tool to select unwanted areas, and then fill then with white.

Now is the time to alter the image if you want more or less included in the cutout. Use the Magic Wand to select the white areas, as shown in Figure 7. To test what will be created when the cutting path is made for Adobe Illustrator, fill the selection with a color (see Figure 8). The cut shape needs to be fully selected as one piece; any stray whites left in the test image will not be included in the cutting path. Step back in history to remove the test fill color.

Figure 7The selected white area is for the woodblock that will be inked and printed.

Some of the following instructions are specific to the Universal Laser Systems cutter. If you're working by hand or with some other machine, adjust your settings accordingly.

Copy the selected path to the clipboard. Open a new document in Adobe Illustrator that is 18 inches high x 24 inches wide, which is the size of the Universal laser bed. Make sure it's Adobe RGB. Make a new swatch of RGB 255 red (see Figure 13). The Universal laser knows that anything in this color is a cut line. The red will be used to stroke the shape. When the image is selected with the selection tool, it will be highlighted in blue. After it's stroked with red and deselected, the outline will show in red.

Figure 13The selected image will be highlighted in blue before it's stroked.

Press Command-V to place the image in the document. In the paste options, select Compound Shape (Fully Editable), as shown in Figure 14.

Step 2: Cut the Print Block

Most likely you will take your wood and file to a vendor that will cut your shapes file. I have a Universal 60 Watt VersaLaser in my studio, and it's indispensable for many of the artworks I create. The software includes a materials database that makes it very easy to cut wood with the proper speed and power. For this project, I used .23-inch birch for the woodblock (see Figure 18).

By clicking on the Manual Control tab shown in Figure 19, I can see the automatic settings for the red cutting lines. Settings in this panel can be slightly adjusted, which might be necessary for this example, because not all birch plywood has the same laminate.

Figure 21Rusty paper is easy to make for use as a texture for later scanning.

Step 3: Transfer the Print to Paper

A smooth hard surface is needed to do the image transfer that will be the base for the block print. I use a sheet of polypropylene, but any clean, smooth, hard surface will work. I start by taping the Arches Platine paper to my work surface with blue painter's tape. Then I wet the surface of the paper with DASS WonderSauce Clear transfer medium.

Using a paint roller, I slide the inkjet print, printed on DASS Premium transfer film, onto the wet paper (see Figure 22). After one minute, I carefully peel off the film from the paper.

After the print dries completely, it needs to be "de-slimed" to remove the inkjet coating that's left on the surface that moved with the ink. A hot hairdryer works well to dry the transferred image before I place it in water to remove the coating. Here's the technique: Place the dried transfer in a tray of water and rock the water tray for three minutes (see Figure 23). You will see the inkjet emulsion swell and slide off the image. Don't touch the image, or you may rub it off the paper. The blank area around the print can be rubbed a bit to loosen any emulsion. Hang the print with a clip from one corner to air-dry completely.

The woodblock needs to be sealed with Shellac so the plate won't absorb water from the inks, or when the block is cleaned after pulling the print.

Dilute the clear Shellac 50:50 with grain alcohol. I like to use Everclear to thin the Shellac because Everclear is odorless. Both Everclear and denatured alcohol are grain alcohol, so you can use either one. Measure out equal amounts into a container, as shown in Figure 25.

The wood needs to be sanded very smooth so the ink can be applied evenly. Sand and round off the edges and the corners, using a 400-grit sandpaper, as shown in Figure 27. Brush or clean off all the sawdust.

Step 5: Print the Woodblock

I'm using water-based block printing ink for this print, applied with a soft rubber brayer over the wood. Apply the ink in a thin, even layer, being careful not to let the ink drop into the cutout areas (see Figure 28).

Pick up the inked block by the edges and position it over the image transfer (see Figure 29). Press the woodblock firmly onto the paper. Carefully turn over the woodblock and the paper, so it can be burnished in the next step.

I use a rubbing baren to burnish the back of the paper, as shown in Figure 30. This technique pushes the ink into the paper fiber. Rub the baren across all the edges and the corners to press a plate mark into the paper, which adds to the hand-pulled print appearance.

The first print (shown in Figure 32) is called an artist proof. Once the proof is approved, the edition is printed to match the proof print.

Figure 32The ink adds a layer of physical texture to the image transfer.

Final Thoughts

This hybrid printmaking process merges inkjet image-transfer processes into the digital workflow, enabling the artist to add photographic images to hand-pulled prints in a way never before possible. All the products used here are water-based and non-toxic, which makes this hybrid process safe and easy to use for classrooms and professional studios alike.